In other news...quite a lot of activity in the old Coop yesterday. Some guys drilling some piles into the floor to see what the foundation depth was.
The guys didn’t seem to know what was going on, but movement nonetheless.

Looks like there is a planning application in to change the Co-Op from a retail space to a gym. Can't access the supporting documents at the moment, but the agent dealing with it also manages the portfolio of the Gym Group.

The application says it's The Gym Ltd. The plans have a gym, weights space and functional zone on the ground floor, then a first floor with showers/changing and additional main gym space, as well as a lot of plant space.

I don’t recall anyone saying that the planning application had been approved so I’m not surprised activity has stopped. I imagine it was exploratory work and nothing significant would happen until a decision.

The application looks like it only went in just before Christmas, so it wouldn't have had time to be approved yet. Presumably one of the Planning Committees at the end of January/beginning of February? Or do they need a longer lead in time for this sort of thing?

Timings depend on whether its a delegated matter to officers - and then a 4-8 week lead time is fairly normal for the preparation of reports etc. It could even be 12-16 weeks dependant upon criteria.

You may have seen criticism in the national press over the last few days whereby a governmental health officer was observing an across the country phenomina where it is easier to get planning approval for a fast food outlet than it is for a gymnasium. Despite it being government policy to promote healthier eating for the populace and to encourage them to take more exercise.

Our local authority has been guilty of this practice. In recent years a national food chain was granted planning permission for their new restaurant with mandatory planning conditions to be satisfied post-approval whereas a small London based business attempted to get permission for a yoga/gym studio and the council treated their application very differently and deemed that all manadatory conditions had to be demonstrably met before permission could be granted.

Hello,
I'm new to this forum and am not sure if this is the best place to write about the new (temporary) use of the old Co-op on Sydenham Road, corner with Girton Road.

It seemed a waste of energy to leave the building empty and with the lights on for over three years so a group of Extinction Rebellion activists gained access and switched them off. We have decided to squat the building and have a couple of people living there full time to comply with the legal requirements of a squat in a commercial building.

We want to enable community groups to use the space for meetings, film shows, bicycle maintenance classes, maybe a parent and toddle playgroup. You may have more good ideas.

With the corona virus lockdown we have had to postpone most of these ideas but have put window displays about the threat to the planet from climate change. We started a book-swap in the entrance last Monday where people are welcome to take a book to read and to bring other books they don't want any more. This proved rather too successful in its first two days and we could really do with more people donating the books they don't want any more - please just bring them and order them on the bookshelf in the entrance according to categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Food & Recipes, Children. We also welcome CDs and DVDs.

The first bicycle maintenance session will be on Saturday - the space is large enough to maintain social distancing and our mechanics will help YOU to make your bike go better. We won't do the work for you and no money will be involved. If you have any old bicycle parts or even whole bikes you don't want you are welcome to donate them. More and more people are cycling during the lockdown and we want to support this.

Do come and have a chat at the shop if you see we are there and if you want posters or information about climate change.

Yes, it would be nice to have contact with the administrators who currently own the site, but I'm not surprised we haven't heard anything due to the lockdown. We put my phone number on the door from the day we moved in and have so far heard nothing.

From the comments we have been receiving I think people are glad that the building is being used a bit and that the lights are off.

Two people are living there who were on the streets so that has given them some stability.

I hope that when someone decides to buy it they will get in touch and explain their plans and we will be happy to come to an agreement with them about access so that they can see what there is and to enable them to make plans. We will also try to agree when we should vacate the building for building work to happen while minimising any period where the building is left empty.

We hope that new owners will discuss the issues with us amicably rather than going straight for a court order or, as has been known, an illegal eviction with a heavy mob.

Please remember we would love more books for the book exchange in the doorway and don't forget the bike maintenance offer on Saturday from 10am to 2pm. Any bikes you don't want or parts of bikes that can be reused are also welcome.

Sorry but the threat from coronavirus has taken over from climate change
The planet can look after itself hence inflicted this virus upon us which I predicted a year ago
A lot of good will hopefully come out of this
There are too many people trying to be "right on and hip" rather than sincere - all have tattoos, piercings and green hair and want to be noticed more than anything else

Sorry but the threat from coronavirus has taken over from climate change
The planet can look after itself hence inflicted this virus upon us which I predicted a year ago
A lot of good will hopefully come out of this
There are too many people trying to be "right on and hip" rather than sincere - all have tattoos, piercings and green hair and want to be noticed more than anything else

Sorry but the threat from coronavirus has taken over from climate change
The planet can look after itself hence inflicted this virus upon us which I predicted a year ago
A lot of good will hopefully come out of this
There are too many people trying to be "right on and hip" rather than sincere - all have tattoos, piercings and green hair and want to be noticed more than anything else

Refreshing to see common sense and realism on this forum. It’s usually so far in between.

I think you guys have done a brilliant job. Those lights were on for ages and the council did nothing about it. You have my full support. The climate crisis is more urgent than ever, coronavirus or no coronavirus.

I think you guys have done a brilliant job. Those lights were on for ages and the council did nothing about it. You have my full support. The climate crisis is more urgent than ever, coronavirus or no coronavirus.

What’s urgent about it? Why do you care what happens to the world in thousands of years time over something awful that could spell the end of humanity now?

[/quote] What’s urgent about it? Why do you care what happens to the world in thousands of years time over something awful that could spell the end of humanity now? [/quote]

For one thing it's not an either/or. Nobody is suggesting that addressing climate change is somehow done at the expense of, or as an alternative to, tackling Covid-19.

For another, where do you get that "thousands of years" from? Climate models, temperature change, sea-level rise, flood forecasts all predict serious situations within 60-100 years.

In fact you don't even need to look any further ahead than now. Ambient air pollution in India is estimated to cause 670,00 deaths annually. Forest fires in Oz and California, which are growing every year in their frequency and severity? Rising sea levels are making Vanuatu and Tuvalu uninhabitable.

It's not the most politically favoured nor the most popular project in the communities through which it must pass.

Here's some food for thought.

We are all enjoying blue skies almost free of aircraft and the CO2 pollution that goes with it. Less well known is that non-CO2 emissions from aircraft are both greater in volume along with noise pollution which are possibly and collectively more harmful and we are benefitting from those absences too.

The economy must re-start at some point. Freight and passengers will have to be moved around the country once again. It is foreseeable that the UK internal holiday market will blossom boom-style as people consider what real risks exist if they choose to go abroad before there is an effective vaccine in place across the world. In any event people will need effective and efficient transportation.

The airline industry deserves to have significant degrees of leverage applied to it as it puts its case to HMG for large scale bail-out monies to be granted to them. This could result in HMG at long last grasping the airline nettles and demanding real improvements in climate and environment performance from them. All to the good so far.

A well planned HS2, properly extended and designed to reach ALL of the countries and regions in the UK, would be a better baseline to deliver efficient transportation and move passengers around the UK. It would serve to significantly reduce the demand for the overwhelming numbers of flights internally and probably on balance be much more climate and environment friendly. To be studied, argued and debated of course.

ER - take down the signs whilst you have a re-think. There is an opportunity to effect real change in the post-pandemic world. It also requires you to recognise the scale of that change brought about by the reactions to the crisis and you should prepare to apply the imagination to the issue which you insist your progenitors have failed to do.

Perhaps if these outcomes and climate and environmental improvements proved sustainable for HS2 - the project would earn and deserve a little more love.